{"id":2568,"date":"2007-12-21T00:13:32","date_gmt":"2007-12-21T06:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/2007\/12\/21\/environmental-warnings-from-native-american-elders\/"},"modified":"2007-12-21T00:13:32","modified_gmt":"2007-12-21T06:13:32","slug":"environmental-warnings-from-native-american-elders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmental-warnings-from-native-american-elders\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Warnings From Native American Elders"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Last week, I had the honor of listening to When the ancestors whisper…Stories From Native California<\/a>, <\/em>produced by my friend Neil Harvey of the Bioneers<\/a> for the California Indian Storytelling Association<\/a> (CISA). Sitting in my neighbor’s rustic log cabin sipping local wine, the elders’ voices reached my soul and I lamented for the lack of oral history within my own culture. When the ancestors whisper…<\/a><\/em> features Native American storytellers Darryl “Babe” Wilson (Itam Is<\/em>\/Aw’te<\/em>), Georgiana Sanchez (Chumash<\/em>\/O’odham<\/em>) and Ernest Siva (Cahuilla<\/em>\/Serrano<\/em>) coming from the California forests, deserts, and sea. One story, in particular, I felt carried wisdom for the environmental movement and the future of our planet.<\/p>\n Told by Darryl “Babe” Wilson, “Two Moons” is a “warning” story of what might happen to the Earth if we don’t heal the “sickness” of our planet. “Jui ja wa<\/em>. The old people would say jui ja wa<\/em>. Jui ja wa<\/em>, that means the Earth is sick.” Darryl was born on the north side of Sul\u2019ma\u2019ejote<\/em> (Fall River) at its confluence with It\u2019ajuma <\/em>(Pit River), which is east of Mt. Shasta. He has doctorate in English and the author of The Morning the Sun Went Down<\/a>, a honest autobiography about what it is like to grow up Native American in rural California. Based on the recommendation of a Modoc<\/a> colleague, I read this book over seven years ago, but the story has remained in my heart as if I read it yesterday.<\/p>\n